Paper-file.



No. 639,72l.' Patented Dec. 26, I899. E. FOWLER.

PAPER FILE.

(Application filed Dec. 29, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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PATEN Fries.

EDWIN FOWLER, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.

PAPER-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,721, dated December 26, 1899.

Application filed December 29,1898. Serial No. 700,592. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, EDWIN FOWLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Wyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Files, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to letter-files; and the object thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which may be used as a convenient file for letters, bills, and other documents or papers.

This invention is an improvement on that described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 594,990, granted to me December 7, 1897, and is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved file; Fig. 2, a back view of a portion thereof; Fig. 3, a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a modified form of construction.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification the separate parts of my improvement are designated by the same numerals of reference in each of the views, and in the practice of my invention I select a sheet of strong paper 5, substantially of the form shown in Fig. 1, and fold the same at 6, adjacent to one end thereof, to form a front flap 8, the body portion 9 constituting the back of the file and being adapted to be folded centrally along the dotted line 10 to form a front cover for the contents of the file.

In the back of the file at the fold 6 are out two or more slits 11, as shown in Fig. 2, preferably segmental in form, having the fold 6 as their tangent at one extremity and thence curving inward toward the transverse center of the sheet 5. For ordinary uses two of such slits and of the clamps hereinafter described, placed adjacent to the corners formed by the fold 6 and the sides of the sheet, as in Fig. 1, will be found sufficient. I also provide yokeshaped clamps 12, each of which consists of a back side 13 and a front side 14:, the inner surfaces of said front side and said back side being opposed to each other throughout the greater portion of their length and adapted to hold firmly any object interposed between them. The general form of these clamps is such that when the clamp is closed over the flap 8, as shown at the upper left-hand corner of Fig. 1, the general direction of the two sides thereof forms an oblique angle with the fold 6, and on the back side 13 of the clamp and adjacent to the end thereof there is a flat lug or projection 15, extending at an a11- gle to the general direction of the sides and adapted to receive a pivot or eyelet 16, this lug or projection being on that'edge of said back side 13 which lies toward the acute angle form ed by the general direction of the sides of the clamps with said fold 6, and the length of the sides 13 and 14 of said clamps is formed great enough, so that when the clamps are in the position shown at the upper left-hand corner of Fig. 1 the pivot or eyelet 16 is located approximately between the extremities of the sides and the fold 6. The edges of the clamps are preferably curved, substantially as shown in the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, the lug or projection 15 thus lying in the concave edge of the side 13. A portion 22 at the end of the front side of said clamps is preferably turned upward or away from the back side 13 to facilitate swinging the clamp over the fold 6, as hereinafter described. The back side of each clamp and the lug or projection 15 of said clamps are passed through the slits 11, as shown in Fig. 2, and eyelets or rivets 16 are passed through the back 9 of the file and through said lugs or projections,whereby said clamps are secured to the file. The clamps 12 are adapted to be turned inwardly or out wardly, as shown in Fig. 1, and in order to strengthen the connection of said clamps with the back of the file and also to protect the contents from abrasion when the clamps are turned I secure to the front of said back, adjacent to the pivotal connection of said clamps, a transverse reinforcing-strip 17, which projects backwardly'over the back sides 13 of said clamps, and 'therivets or eyelets at 16 are also passed through the reinforcingstrip 17.

When the clamps 12 are swung inwardly, the opposing sides thereof inclose and clamp together the front flap 8 and the reinforcingstrip 17, and in placing letters or other'papers in the file the clamps 12 are swung outwardly, as shown atthe lower side of Fig. 1, and the left-hand side of the letter or other paper is inserted between the fold 8 and the reinforcing-strip 17 ,and the clamps 12 are then swung inwardly, as shown at the top of Fig. 1, in which position said clamps securely hold the letters or other papers or documents in the file. The eyelets or rivets 16 lying, as heretofore described, between the extremity of the clamp and the fold 6, a force applied at the extremity of the clamp and directly toward the fold 6 cannot have any tendency to release the file from the clamp.

That portion of the back 9 to the right of the dotted line designated by the referencenumeral 10 is then folded over, adapted to serve as a cover to the file or the contents thereof. The portion 19 of the blank 5 is left slightly longer than the remainder, so that when the blank is folded on the line 10 the said portion 19 extends beyond the fold 6 and serves both to receive a label or index character and to aid in drawing the particular file wanted from a box or shelf containing a bank of similar files, this portion 19 being made of diifereut extent transversely of the blank 5 in the respective files placed in a given box or series.

Instead of employing the separate reinforcing-strip 17 I may accomplish the same result by folding the back 9 as shown in Fig. 4, the first fold being backwardly, as shown at 20, and then forwardly to form a reinforcingstrip 21, which covers the back portion of the clamps 12, and then again folding said part forwardly to form flap 8. In this form of construction the slits 11 are form ed in the fold between the parts 21 and 8 and the rivets or eyelets 16 are passed through the reinforcing part 21 and thrcugh the back 9 and the lugs or projections 15 of the clamps.

The construction shown in Fig. 4 is in some respects preferable to that shown in Fig. 3; but either of said forms of construction may be employed, as desired.

My improved paper-file is simple in con struction and operation and perfectly adapted to accomplish the result'for which it is intended.

Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, said blank being also adapted to be folded adjacent to the transverse center to form a front or cover for the file, said back being also provided adjacent to said fold with slits, and yoke-shaped clamps the edges of which are segmentally curved, one side of said clamps being passed through said slits, and being pivotally secured to the back, substantially as shown and described.

2. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, the body portion of said blank forming the back of the file, and said back adjacent to the said fold being provided with slits and yoke-shaped clamps, one side of said clamps being passed through said slits and being pivotally connected with said back, substantially as shown and described.

3. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, the body portion of said blank forming the back of the file, and said back adjacent to the said fold being provided with slits and yoke-shaped clamps, the edges of which are curved segmentally, one side of said clamps being passed through said slits and being pivotally connected with said back, substantially as shown and described.

4.. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, the body portion of said blank forming the back of the file, and said back adjacent to said fold being provided with slits and yoke-shaped clamps, one side of said clamps being passed through said slits and being pivotally connected with said back, said back being also adapted to be folded adjacent to the transverse center so as to form a front or cover for the file, substantially as shown and described.

5. A papenfile constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, the body portion of the blank forming the back of the file, said back being provided adjacent to said fold with segmental slits, and yoke-shaped clamps the edges of which are curved segmentally, and the back sides of which are passed through said slits and provided on their concave sides with lugs or projections which are pivotally connected with the back by rivets or pins passed therethrough, substantially as shown and described.

6. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, the body portion of the blank forming the back of the file, said back being pro* vided adjacent to said fold with slits, and yoke-shaped clamps the edges of which are curved segmentally, and the back sides of which are passed through said slits and provided on their concave sides with lugs or projections which are pivotally connected with the back of the file by rivets or pins passed therethrough, said back of the file being also provided with a reinforcing-strip arranged transversely thereof adjacent to said fold and through which the pivots of the clamps are passed, substantially as shown and described.

7. A paper-file constructed as herein described, and consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to'form a front flap, the body portion of the blank constituting the back of the file and foldable adjacent to the transverse center to form a front or cover for the file, said back being provided with slits adjacent the fold by which said front flap is formed, clamps, each of which consists of two opposing sides, one of which is provided with a lug or projection andis passed through one of said slits, each clamp beinglpivotally secured to the back of the file by means of a pin or rivet passed through said lug, the arrangement and pivotal connection of said clamp being such that its outer or front side may be swung over said front fiap of the blank into such a position that the pivotal connection of said clamp lies approximately between the extremity of said front side of said clamp and the fold by which said front flap is formed, substantially as shown and described.

8. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, the body portion of the blank forming the back of the file, and being foldable adjacent to the transverse center to form afront or cover for the file and provided with slits adjacent the fold by which the front flap is formed, clamps, each consisting of two opposing sides, one of which is provided with a lug or projection substantially at the end thereof,

and is passed through one of said slits and pivotally connected with said back of said file by means of a pin or rivet passed through said lug, the arrangement and pivotal connection of said clamp being such that it may be swung into such position that its outer or front side shall rest over the front flap of the blank, and said pivotal connection shall lie approxi mately between the extremity of the front side of said clamp and the fold by which said front flap is formed; said back of said file being also provided with a reinforcing-strip arranged transversely thereof adjacent to the fold forming the front flap, the pivots of the clamps being passed through the said back,- and through said reinforcing-strip, and the lugs 0r projections of said clamps being placed between the said back'and said reinforcingstrip, substantially as shown and described.

9. A paper-file constructed as herein described, the same consisting of a blank which is folded transversely at one end to form a front flap, said blank being also adapted to be folded adjacent to the transverse center to form a front or cover for the file, and yokeshaped clamps, one side of which is passed through elongated openings in the back adjacent the fold by which the front flap is formed, said clamps being pivotally secured to the back, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in pres ence of the subscribing witnesses, this 22d day of December, 1898.

EDWIN FOWLER.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR F. BRODIE, MADALINE STEWART. 

